I'll Never Let Go
by EverGreenRiver
Summary: Charlotte Mary-Anne Daniels is the only daughter of Patricia and Otis. When her husband was killed, and she was left to raise their two year old son alone, she felt as if her world had ended, but when she meets Daryl Dixon, over time, she begins to feel hope again. This story goes episode by episode so each chapter is a new episode and only has things that involve her or her son.
1. Chapter 1-Bloodletting

_**-So, each chapter is based on an episode so some of them won't be very long. Anyway, I'm going to go ahead and say I only own my OC characters. I've changed some of the story line but not by a lot just enough to fit her in there. I hope you enjoy and review if you do. I'm sorry if there are any grammar errors. The picture that goes along with this story is of Charlotte, Andy, and Travis before the zombie apocalypse. If you've read this before I have changed a few things.**_

* * *

_ "Hey! You move shithead, come on."_

_ "How far? How far?"_

_ "About half mile that way, talk to Hershel and Charlotte they'll help your boy."_

**Chapter 1) Bloodletting**

She could feel it, the wind blowing around, the sun burning on her skin, the weight of a thousand tons sitting on her shoulders as she sat under the willow tree next to his grave. She could feel it, everything outside, but she felt nothing inside. No love, no sadness, no guilt, nothing. She was hallow, empty, and, after his death, she felt nothing, the only love she still bore was for her now fatherless son, Travis. Her son was all she truly cared for other than her parents who lived in the farmhouse with the Greene family. He was all she wanted to live for even though she truly didn't want to live with the guilt of his death anymore. She loved him more than life her little Travis, but he was her life, without him she would be nothing but a corpse in the ground like her husband.

She didn't see the man, nor the boy in his arms, as he ran passed her towards the farmhouse. She didn't see the man that followed or her father who trailed slightly behind. If she did see, she did nothing. She continued to sit there, lost to the world, while panic erupted inside the farm house. She didn't want to know what was going on, she didn't care. The grave beside her was all she cared about, other then her son, and it cold just like her, it was what she wanted but couldn't have. She stood from her spot beside the grave and went to her flower garden that was only four steps away. She picked the roses because they had been his favorite. She placed them in the glass bottle that leaned against the giant tree and buried the older ones in a spot not far from the grave.

The tree was like a land marker for her, a memory holder of everything that had ever happened to her through out her life. He had proposed to her there, underneath the large willow tree, they had gotten married there, underneath the large willow tree, and now he was buried there, underneath the large willow tree, six feet under the ground, he was now a part of the tree.

She leaned back on her heels and stared at the bottle. She could remember the first time he had given her one. It had been their three month anniversary and it was her birthday. They had gone out dancing for the night and, as they were leaving, he had bought her a rose and put it in her hair. They quickly became her favorite flower to after that night. She shook her head and sat back down in her regular spot beside the grave. She didn't hear the footsteps running towards her nor did she feel the hand that landed on her shoulder.

"Charlotte?" Beth asked.

Beth Greene was Herschel's youngest daughter with his second wife Anette. She was blonde with large blue eyes and was eighteen years old, she had still been in high school when the apocalypse started. Charlotte used to babysit her whenever Herschel and Anette were busy or would play with her if Maggie and Shawn wouldn't. She was a beautiful girl who could sing her heart out if she wanted to, Charlotte had heard her many times before.

"Charlotte?" Beth asked again more urgently.

Charlotte flinched before she turned her head slightly to her right and nodded in a silent question of what.

"It's Hershel, he needs your help in the house. A boy was shot by your dad, he needs help." She said.

She closed her eyes and shook her head.

Beth practically begged. "Your dad shot him Charlotte they need you daddy can't do it by himself."

She sighed and lightly touched the grave beside before she nodded her head, she knew she'd be back later. She stood from her spot and quickly began the long walk towards the house. She rushed up the stairs, breezed past her father and Maggie, and walked into the room that contained the boy. He was pale, far paler than he should have been, and young. She looked at the towels that covered his right side.

"The bullet went clean through the deer and it slowed it down, but it didn't go clean through. The bullet broke into six parts. I've managed to get one, but I don't know about the other five." She heard Hershel say.

She nodded her head and took his spot on the right side of the boy, beside a man in a sheriff's uniform, and began to check his vitals and the wound. She looked at the officer covered in blood and assumed he was the father. He was a tall, thin, good looking, man with dark brown hair, blue eyes, and stubble on his chin. He was sweaty and blood covered his uniform from where he had, apparently, carried the boy to the house.

"You his father?" She asked.

The man nodded and stuttered, "Yeah, I..I'm Rick."

She stepped closer towards him and whispered, "His pressure's dropping to fast and he's losing too much blood. The piece are too deep for me to get out, I'd have to cut him open to be able to get to them. He has internal bleeding which means one of the fragments has hit something that I need to close. I don't have the necessary equipment to properly do that and I can't, I won't, to do it with the possibility that he might wake up."

The man shook his head repeatedly, "What do you suggest?"

She sighed and looked back at the unconscious child. "There's a chance that if I do it now that the boy might not make it out alive. He needs a respirator or he won't make it through the surgery. Without it, there's no point in me even trying."

"How do we get one?" The other new man asked from where he stood across the room and she looked at him. He was tall, like Rick, but with more muscle and had a head of curly black hair, his eyes were brown. There was something about him that she didn't like, something was off, something strange was going on in his mind, she could see it.

"You can't go to the hospital it went up in flames a month ago, to many of those things." Her dad said as he looked at the people around the room.

"No," Hershel said, "but there's the high school."

The new people looked confused.

"They set up a shelter there when the outbreak started, they'd have everything I need and more." Charlotte said as she looked at her dad.

Otis shook his head. "The place was over run the last time I saw it, you couldn't even go near it, but maybe it's better now."

The black haired man sighed. "I say leave the rest to me, I can probably get there. Get in and get out.

"I hate you going alone." Rick said.

"Come on," the other new man said before he guided Rick and most of the people out of the room, Charlotte followed.

Everyone sat around the room and Charlotte walked over to the front door to lean against it.

The other new man looked at her from his place over the door they just came out of. "Ma'am, why don't you make me a list of what you need and draw me a map?"

Charlotte nodded her head but stopped as her dad spoke, "You won't need a map. I'll take you there, ain't but five miles."

Her mother reached out and grabbed his shoulder. "Otis, no."

He sighed and looked at her from his seat. "Honey we don't have for guest work and I'm responsible. I ain't gonna sit here while this man goes out on his own."

"Daddy think about this," Charlotte said before she stepped closer to him. "He's younger and faster, he could get in and out quicker, there's no need for you to go."

"I'll be alright." Was all he said to her even though he couldn't look her in the eye.

"You sure about this?" The other new man asked.

Otis laughed, "Do you even know what any of the stuff their talking about is or what it looks like?"

The man raised his eyebrows and shook his head, "I come to think no."

"I was a volunteer EMT, I do. Now we can talk about this until next Sunday or we could go do it real quick."

The man nodded. "I think real quick."

"I should thank you." Rick said from his seat beside Shane.

Otis sighed. "Wait until that boy of yer's is up and 'round, then we'll talk. I'll gather some things."

As he walked away, Maggie walked up to the Rick and asked, "Where is she? Your wife?"

* * *

"Now you know everything that we need? What it looks like? What it smells like? What it tastes like? Everything?" Charlotte asked as she followed her father to the truck and helped him load his backpack.

He laughed. "I don't know about tastes like or smells like, but I know what they look like."

"You know that if you can't find um to just leave um and come back? Don't waste your time looking for them, OK? Don't put yourself at risk, I can probably think of something," she continued as she handed him the list.

He looked at her and nodded with a giant smile before he sighed and pulled her into his arms, "I'll get everything, Lottie, don't you worry. I'll be back and you'll save that little boy."

She sighed and returned the hug. "You better come back. I love you."

"I love you too." He said before he let her go and went to her mother who was almost in tears.

She watched as they said goodbye to each other before he climbed into the truck followed by the other guy. Otis had his hunting rifle, his best gun, and the one that the Rick boy had given him. He would be fine, she hoped. She watched as they drove away before she followed her mother into the house and went to check on the boy.

* * *

There was nothing else she could do, but sit beside the boy and wait. Rick sat beside her in another chair and together they both sat in silence. She wouldn't talk, not openly, unless spoken to, and wouldn't answer unless she wanted to. That's how she worked, that's how she lived… in silence. It was her best, and only, friend other than her son and he was asleep.

From what she could tell, by the way he looked, Rick was no better off than the son. He was pale from giving so much blood and looked ready to drop. She could see the tear stains that had dried on his cheeks from where he had been crying. He seemed so scared and lifeless, like a ghost.

"Thank you for doing this." She heard him say a few minutes later.

She nodded and continued to stare at the boy who lied motionless on the bed in front of her.

"His name is Carl, by the way, and the other man was Shane." He continued.

She nodded again and the man sighed.

"He'll be mighty thankful when he wakes up."

She frowned and shook her head, but didn't look away from the boy, "He'll have nothing to be thankful for."

The chair beside her squeaked as Rick sat up straighter and changed position, "What do you mean?"

She sighed and looked down at her lap, "Why should he be thankful when I'm trapping him longer in a world that practically doesn't exist anymore? I'm doing nothing but giving him the chance of dying a more painful, empty death in a life that no longer has any meaning."

The chair beside her moved closer so that Rick could lay a hand on the woman's shoulder, she flinched. "But your giving him the choice, the chance, to live or die, for that I'm grateful and his mother will be to."

Her eyebrows flurried and she squinted in thought, "His mother, where is she?"

Rick smiled slightly even though she couldn't see it. "We lost a little girl a few days ago on the highway, she ran into the woods. We split up into groups to find her, she went with a different group then us."

"What's her name?"

"Lori."

"It must be nice to still have her around during all of this."

He hadn't noticed before that there was a wedding ring on her left hand. "Yeah, you married to?"

She stiffened. "I was." she said, "He's gone now."

"What happened to him?"

"He died at the beginning, got bite while we were coming here."

He nodded before he looked out the window and saw the large willow tree that sat in the middle of the open field. "Is that where he's buried? By the willow tree?"

She sighed. "It was our favorite spot when he was alive, we got married there."

He sighed and took her hand in his. "I'm sorry for your lose."

She jerked away from him, stood up, and walked to the door but stopped and looked back at him, "Don't feel obligated to be sorry for me. Be sorry for your son because he has to grow up in a world where there's no hope, because he has to live to watch others die. Be sorry for your son not me." She turned away from him, left the house, and went to her spot beside the grave at the willow tree, the one spot in the whole world that gave her the most peace.

* * *

Later that day, Rick walked out of the house and leaned against the railing. He looked out across the vast amount of beautiful land before his eyes landed on the figure sitting under the willow tree. How someone could be so sad, so lifeless, he would never know. He continued to stand there and watch her until he heard the sound of footsteps beside him, "This place is beautiful."

"Been in my family for a hundred and sixty years." Hershel said as he to looked over the land.

"I can't believe how untouched it is, your lucky." Rick said as he looked over at the older man.

Hershel nodded. "We weren't completely unscathed. We've lost friends, neighbors, the epidemic took my wife, step-son, and Charlotte's husband."

Rick sighed and looked back out over the land. "I'm sorry."

"My daughters were spared, Charlotte, Travis, Otis and Patricia." Hershel said. "I'm grateful to god for that." He sighed, "These people here, all we've got left is each other. Just hoping we can ride it out in peace till there's a cure."

"Travis?" Rick asked, he hadn't heard that name yet.

Herschel nodded his head out in Charlotte's direction. "Charlotte's son, he's two years old."

"Where is he?"

"Upstairs." Herschel said. "Beth and Jimmy usually take care of him, Charlotte's not in the best state of mind right now."

Rick nodded. "We were at the CDC," he said, "it's, it's gone now. There is no cure."

Hershel smiled at him and laughed, "I don't believe it. When aids came along everyone panicked, one boy in town came down with it and some parents pulled their children from school so they wouldn't have to sit in the same room."

Rick sighed and turned to Hershel, "This is a whole other thing."

"That's what we always say, this one's different."

"Well this one is."

Hershel smirked. "Man kind has been fightin' plagues from the start. We get our behinds kicked for a while then we bounce back. It's nature correcting itself, restoring some balance."

Rick looked at him then back at the land, he saw Lori. "I wish I could believe that."

* * *

She could see the men standing there talking to each other on the porch, Rick and Herschel. She didn't understand Rick, he seemed strong and smart, but something was holding him down. It wasn't his some, she knew that, he would be fine soon, it was something else. He was always thinking, she could tell by his face, he was a planning kind of man, but now he seemed lost. He reminded her of her husband, of Andy, when they were in college, he was always planning.

She saw them go past her, Maggie and the woman that she assumed was Lori, riding as fast as they could towards the house. She watched Lori and Rick hug before they quickly went into the house together. She frowned and looked down at the grave beside, she missed moments like that.

* * *

"OK so, I understand, when Shane gets back with this other man-" Lori said.

"Otis." Hershel interrupted.

"Otis," she continued, "the idiot who shot my son."

"Ma'am, it was an accident." Hershel said.

"I'll take that under advisement later, for now he's the idiot who shot our son." She said.

"Lori," Rick sighed as he grabbed her hand, "their doing everything they can to make it right."

She wiped her face, "Alright as soon as they get back you can perform this surgery?"

Hershel nodded, "We'll certainly do our best."

"You've done this procedure before?" She asked.

"Well yes, in a sense." He said.

Lori looked at him. "In a sense?"

"Honey, we don't have the luxury of shopping for a surgeon." Rick said.

She laughed, "No I understand that, but I mean you're a doctor right?"

"I'm a veterinarian, but Charlotte on the other hand is a doctor and will be performing the surgery." Hershel said.

Lori nodded confused and looked around. "And who's Charlotte?"

Hershel turned around and pointed out towards the willow tree where Charlotte was still sitting, "She's the woman sitting against that tree. She knows how to perform the surgery and can save your boy."

Lori scoffed. "Your going to let an emotionally unstable girl perform a high risk surgery on my son?"

Hershel frowned at her. "Ma'am, she may be a little unstable, but she's the best we have and even if she's unstable she'll get the job done."

She nodded. "You're sure about this?"

Herschel nodded. "Ma'am, I have never been so sure about anything in my life except for right now. Charlotte was a surgeon, before the outbreak, she can help your son."

Lori nodded and wiped her eyes. "Alright."

* * *

"His pressure's dropping again, we don't have much time left before we have to operate with or without the supplies." Charlotte said as she checked the boys vitals.

"Then take some more," Rick said as he held out his arm to Hershel. "Whatever he needs and then I'm gonna go."

Charlotte scoffed and looked at him. "You can't give anymore you've given enough already. You'll fall over and pass out if you give anymore, let me do it."

"Go?" Lori asked. "Go where?"

"No," Hershel said to Charlotte. "I need you ready to perform the surgery."

Charlotte looked at him. "I have the same blood type as him. He needs it and Rick's to weak."

"They said five miles they should be back by now." Rick said to Lori.

"Rick can give one more before he can't, he'll be fine." Hershel said.

"Are you insane?" Lori asked. "You're not going after them."

"Rick," Charlotte said as she grabbed onto his arm. "If their in trouble you're in no condition to go after them. You wouldn't make it there, you'd die, then what would I tell your son?"

He pulled away from her and looked at Lori. "If something happened I have to go."

"No," She argued. "Your place is here. If Shane said he'll be back, he'll be back he's like you that way."

"I can't just sit here." Rick almost cried.

"That's exactly what you do." She practically screamed at him. "If you need to pray or cry or tell god he's cruel you go right ahead, but your not leavin' Rick. Carl needs you, here, and I can't do this by myself. Not this one, I can't. I can't."

They stood in silence for a moment before Charlotte spoke. "I'll give the boy a unit of blood and that should last him until, hopefully, their back. Other than that, there's nothing I can do but the surgery and hope for the best."

**-**_**Whelp, that's the end of chapter one. **_**I felt that I had to redo it because I thought that I was missing way to much stuff and some things needed to be changed because I'm a goof and I F''''d up. Anyhow, if your reading this again, I hope you enjoyed the new changes and if your reading this first time I hope you enjoyed it to. Now onward to chapter 2, whenever I get it done.**


	2. Chapter 2-Save The Last One

_**-Welcome to chapter 2. Alright, so I have redone chapter one and I plan to now redo this one. **_

_** ****IMPORTANT-So, the willow tree that I keep talking about, when Rick was standing on the porch and he was looking around the tree is in that open field that he ran through with Carl or it's in that area somewhere, that's how she can see everything. I was gonna put it to the right but the groups camp would be in the way and you couldn't see her from the house so I moved it to the left. **_

_**-Anyway, 95 yrs. later, I shall now redo chapter 2 and there should be more of baby Travis in chapter 3 when I get there so be prepared.**_

* * *

"_I couldn't save Andy, but I will save this boy, I will, but what if they don't make it back?"_

**Chapter 2) Save The Last One**

The room was quiet as Herschel checked the boys blood pressure again. Patricia sat in a chair in a corner on the boys right side of the room, Rick and Lori bot sat in in chairs on the right bed side of Carl while Charlotte leaned back against the wall on Hershel's right. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her head laid back on the wall, she was tired. Footsteps came from the hallway and she looked to her left to see two new people. An Asian boy with a blue and red shirt and cap on his head and a dark man with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, Maggie stood behind them. The dark man was sweating what seemed to be buckets of sweat. She looked over him and quickly found the problem his right arm was bandaged.

The Asian boy took off his hat and scratched his head. "Hey."

"Hey." Rick said.

"Um," the Asian boy said, "we're here OK?"

Lori nodded. "Thank you."

"Whatever you need." The dark man said.

Charlotte pushed off from her spot on the wall and walked over to him. She looked at his arm, then at Maggie, then at the boy, then at him. "Come on," she said, "I'll patch up your arm in the kitchen." She looked over at Patricia. "Mom, could you help them, I'll be there in a minute?"

Patricia nodded and followed the other three out of the room.

Herschel stood up from his spot beside the bed. "If they don't hurry back we're going to have a difficult decision on our hands." Hershel said as he watched Charlotte reach over and cover Carl with the blanket.

"What do you mean?" Lori asked as she looked at him.

"He means," Charlotte said as she lifted up the blanket and covered the boys wound, "that we don't have a lot of time on our hands and if they don't get back soon we'll have to operate without the respirator."

Lori frowned. "I thought you said that wouldn't work?"

Charlotte frowned. "I said there's a possibility that it won't work, but there's also a chance that it will. Your boy's strong, he's made it this far." She looked at Rick, "I can't make this decision for you, but, even without the respirator, and, even I don't like it, I could still give it a shot. Either way he could die."

Lori glared at Charlotte before she got up and left the room with Rick following not far behind. Charlotte sighed and readjusted the boy to make sure he was comfortable before she sat down in a chair beside him. She pealed at the bandage on her arm from where she gave blood and shook her head. She hadn't come this far just to give up and throw it all away. She watched the boy for what seemed like years before she felt someone place their hand on her shoulder.

She sighed knowing who it was. "I couldn't save him, Andy, I let him slip right through my hands."

"It wasn't your fault." Hershel said.

She nodded. "I know, but it hurts."

"I know it does."

She shook her head and looked up at him as she grabbed the hand that laid on her shoulder. "I couldn't save Andy, but I'm gonna save this boy, I will, but what if they don't make it back?"

Hershel sighed and looked down at the girl that he had known since she was small. "I know you will. Otis is smart, he knows what he's doing, they'll be back."

"I hope your right Herschel, I really do."

Herschel patted her shoulder before he nodded towards the door. "Go on, go help that man with his arm."

* * *

Herschel sat by the boys sided when he suddenly woke up.

"Rick? Lori?"

They both rushed in and Lori leaned in close to her son.

"Hey baby."

"You should've seen it." Carl said to her.

She looked confused as she ran her figures through his hair. "What?"

The boy froze and then began to shake.

"What's happening?" Lori asked.

"He's going into cardiac arrest, not enough bloods getting to the brain." Herschel said.

Lori began to cry as the boy slowly came to a stop and laid back down. Hershel checked his heartbeat before he looked at them.

"His brain isn't getting enough blood, his pressure is bottoming, and he needs another transfusion." Hershel said as he checked over the kid.

"Give him mine." Rick said.

Herschel shook his head. "You've given too much already, I take anymore away from you you'll go into a coma, I'll get Charlotte."

"She's not his parent."

"Doesn't matter, she'll do it anyway."

* * *

Gloves covered her hands and the man beside her groaned as she pulled the needle through his arm, Maggie was standing over her along with Patricia.

"You got here right in time," she said as she pulled the needle through, "this couldn't go untreated much longer." She looked at Glenn who stood in the hallway. "Merle Dixon, is that your friend with the antibiotics?"

Glenn shook his head. "No ma'am, Merle's no longer with us. Daryl gave us those, his brother."

"Well ain't that just nice of him."

T-Dog groaned. "Wouldn't exactly call him a friend."

Charlotte pulled the needle through and smirked. "He is today this doxycycline might've just saved your life, your lucky." She looked at Glenn. "You know what Merle was taking it for?"

"The clap."

Charlotte scoffed, nodded her head, and said sarcastically, "Well, ain't that just funny," she looked at T-Dog, "looks like the clap done saved your life today son."

T-Dog shook his head and looked at her, his face filled with agony, "Look I'm really tryin' not to think about that."

Glenn walked out after that.

* * *

"Listen to me," Charlotte said as she looked at Rick and Lori, "this boy is running out of time."

"He's still losing blood faster than we can put in him and with the swelling in his abdomen we can't wait any longer." Hershel said to Rick.

Charlotte closed her eyes and took a deep breathe. "Rick," she said, "you have to tell me what to do."

Rick looked at Lori. "We have to make a choice."

"A choice?" She asked.

He nodded. "You have to tell me what to do."

She stood there and stared at him for a moment before she looked at Charlotte and nodded. "We do it."

"Alright," Charlotte said as she rolled up her sleeves. "Mom, get me the table. Hershel, get me any supplies that we possibly have that could keep this boy alive." She walked around the bed and grabbed a corner of the sheet, "Lori, grab the other side of this sheet and help me lift him onto the table. Rick, put the IV bag on the blanket." She looked at Lori and nodded, "On three. One…..Two…..three."

They lifted him and put him on the metal table. She grabbed a pair of gloves and put them on as her mom placed a double sided lamp on the table beside her along with operating tools. Hershel stood beside her at the ready.

"Rick, Lori," he said as Charlotte was about to start, "you may want to step out."

Just as she was about to cut him the sound of a car pulling up the drive stopped her. She pulled off her gloves and looked out the curtains to see the blue truck. She turned to Rick, "It's your man, and it looks like he's got the stuff."

"Charlotte, Patricia, you two stay here with the boy." Hershel said as went out the door.

He came back a few minutes later with a bag full of supplies.

"Where's dad?" Charlotte asked.

He looked at her then back at the bag, "Later."

She frowned but nodded and put a new pair of gloves on. "Alright, let's save this boy."

* * *

"I've known Otis since I was a kid. Ever since my mother died." Maggie cried in the kitchen.

Glenn leaned against the counter before he pushed himself and walked to the refrigerator that was covered in pictures, "Who else?" He asked. "Who else did you lose?"

She looked at him with her tear stained face before she stood up and walked over to the fridge, "My step-mother, my step-brother, and Charlotte's husband Andy."

* * *

After hours of working, Charlotte took off the gloves and put them in the trash. She looked at Hershel who beamed at her with pride and then at her mother who laughed out of happiness. She took the rag that Hershel handed her and wiped her hands just in case. She looked down at the boy and smirked 'At least I could save someone.' She walked outside, followed by Glenn and Maggie, and stopped in front of Rick and Lori, "He seems to have stabilized."

Rick smiled at her and before she knew it, he was hugging her close to him. It was strange for her to have someone other her mom, dad, or son hug her, but she let him anyway.

"Thank you." He whispered as he pulled away from her.

She shrugged before she looked around and noticed that her father wasn't around, "Where's my dad?"

Rick grew even pallor along with Hershel and Shane, who couldn't look at her. "I think it's best if we find your mother." Hershel said as he guided her inside.

She followed him into the kitchen, along with Rick, and sat down at the table beside her mother. Before they could say anything she looked at Hershel, "He's not coming back, is he?"

The silence that greeted her was one of the worst things she had ever heard since her husband died. She slammed the chair back, as her mother began to cry, and stormed out of the house. She pushed past everyone and looked at the man who held her fathers gun, Shane. She didn't speak, only stared before she pushed past him, and rushed upstairs. She didn't stop for Beth and Jimmy who asked her what was wrong but went straight to the room that she shared with her two year old Travis. She sat down bedside him on the bed and looked at the boy who looked so much like his father. His black hair, bright blue eyes, freckles that covered his face from cheek to cheek, and his skin that had now turned a light shade of brown from where he had played in the sun to long.. He had a small button nose that would wrinkle when he laughed and when he laughed he sounded like bells to her ears. He was her last hope, her last reason to stay on this zombie infested planet. He gave her a reason to live and because of that, she was afraid. She was afraid of what would happen to him if she suddenly left and he was alone. She was afraid for his future and that there was nothing she could do but keep him safe. Her Travis, her last connection to her dead husband Andy, her last attachment to life other then her mother.

She pulled back the covers and laid down beside him underneath his Captain America blanket because it was his favorite. He wiggled around for a moment to face her before curled up to her and held onto a part of her shirt as he settled back down.

"Mommy?" He blinked up at her.

She smiled down at him and combed her singers through his hair. "Yeah, baby, go back to sleep."

He nodded his head and buried into her.

She continued to run her fingers through his hair as his breathing evened out and he fell asleep. She frowned. How would she tell him? How would tell him that his granddad was dead? What would she do? Some day their luck would run out. Some day they would have to run and fend for themselves, but could they do it? Could they live on their own? What would happen if they couldn't?

**-**_**You know, I use to love Shane up until this episode. Therefore, I really couldn't change much about this chapter except rearrange things and put her in more places. Her son actually spoke in this chapter so Woo for that, their will be a crap ton more of him in the next chapter. I hope you enjoyed it, next chapter the group will finally be together, and we'll get further into Charlotte's background along with her son**__._


	3. Chapter 3-Cherokee Rose

-**Hey, fellow people, for the people who have review and have favorited or followed this story, thank you so much. I'm sorry that it has taken me this long to start updating this again but I have been through a heck of a lot of crap this year and completely forgot about this story. I was moving, my house got broken into, the cops were idiots and had no idea what they were doing, I graduated high school if it means anything, and I just now remembered this story when somebody favorited it. **

** -Any who,***** IF YOU'VE READ THIS STORY BEFORE I HAVE CHANGED SOME THING'S IN THE LAST TWO CHAPTERS SO YOU MAY WANNA GO REREAD THEM because I felt that they needed to be changed. **

** -Now, as I have said before if you decided not to go back, the willow tree is out in that large empty field to the front left of the farm house, where Rick was running with Carl, so that Charlotte can see everything that's going on because if I put her to the right the groups camp would get in her way. The dress that she's wearing is the same one in the cover picture except it's blue in color.**

** -And so forth, this author's note is way to long, I don't own anything but Travis, Charlotte, and Andy, and now I shall commence with the making of chapter 3 and, hopefully, I don't mess up like the last two and have to do it again. Onward to baby Travis….**

* * *

"_If he was covering you then how'd you come back with a dead man's gun?"_

**Chapter 3) Cherokee Rose**

She had woken up early that morning, before the sun was even in the sky, and had walked out to the grave. She couldn't find peace last night, her dreams were plagued with nightmares not only of her husband and her father but of that boy, Carl, as well. Nightmares of what would've happened if she hadn't saved him, if that man Shane hadn't gotten back in time. She was still confused of over how her dad had died, Shane had come back with his gun, why would he give Shane his gun? Unless something bad had happened and he couldn't take it with him.

She stood from her spot beside the grave, put her hand to her forehead, and looked around. Most of the others were gathering stones for her fathers future empty grave, it was a stupid idea to her. Why have a grave when there was nothing to put in it but air? She wanted to find him, she wanted to go out and find her dad, but she knew it was a bad idea. Beth, Jimmy, her mother, Maggie, Glenn, T-Dog, and Shane were walking around the small wooded area picking up rocks as they went and were putting into a wheel barrel to move.

She continued to watch them for a while before the sound of a motorcycle pulled her away. She looked over at the dirt road that led to the farm to see more people coming towards the house. A man on a motorcycle, a car, and an RV. It must've been the rest of Rick's group, the one's that stayed behind to look for the little girl. To her, now, more people meant more drama, more pain, and more stupidity. Hershel was already taking a big risk letting the others in and now he was going to be taking in more. She watched the caravan come to stop in front of Herschel's home and everyone gathered around them like bees before she sat back down and leaned against the tree. She didn't care, not yet anyway.

* * *

"How is he?" Dale asked as he looked at Rick.

Lori smiled. "He'll pull through. Thanks to Hershel and his people."

Hershel shook his head and looked at the new people from his place near the porch with Patricia standing closely behind him. "It was Charlotte, she saved that boy."

Rick frowned as he looked around for her. "Where is she anyway? Haven't seen today."

"She's out there by the willow tree," Patricia said as she pointed towards the willow tree.

The group looked out towards the large field that would have been empty had it not been for the large willow tree that stood straight in the middle of it. The first thing they noticed was her bright reddish brown hair that reached to the middle of her neck and seemed to shine in the sunlight that peaked through the willow's long branches. Her knees were balled up to her chest with her arms wrapped around them and her head was rested on the top of her knees, she was wearing a bright blue string strapped dress, a blue head band, and sandals.

"What's she doing over there?" Dale asked as he fixed the gun over his shoulder and looked back at Herschel.

"Her husbands buried out there underneath that tree, he died when the outbreak started he was trying to save her."

Carol looked at them. "She saved Carl?"

Rick nodded. "She was a surgeon before the outbreak worked at a hospital nearby."

Daryl shook his head, he had still been watching her. "What's the matter with 'er?"

Maggie frowned. "Her dad died to save that boy."

"Wha'd he do?"

"Him and Shane went to high school nearby to get some medical supplies she needed," Rick said, "only he didn't come back."

They all stood there for a moment before the sound of the front door pulled their eyes towards it, a small boy stood in front of the door. His head was covered in a mound of unbrushed black hair that reached to the ends of his ears. Freckles covered his face from cheek to cheek and he was a pair of tiny overalls and pair of little brown boots. He reached up with his left hand, wiped his eyes, and yawned before he looked out at the people in front of him, they stared back.

He watched them for a moment before he slowly climbed down the stairs, walked past them, then raced through the field towards the willow tree.

"Mommy." They heard him yell.

They all watched as the woman looked at the boy before she stood up, ran out towards him, grabbed him, and lifted him up into the air high above her head. She spun him around a few times then pulled him close to her, she was smiling.

Rick turned away from the happy scene and looked at Herschel. "That's Travis, isn't it?"

Herschel nodded.

* * *

She was standing beside her mother Patricia, Maggie, Beth and Jimmy, while Herschel read from the Bible. She stood there as still as a statue as, one by one, they placed the rocks on her fathers cold empty grave. He wasn't there, he was still at the high school probably wondering around like one of those zombie things you saw in a horror movie. A thing with no brain, a monster, a thing that had killed her husband. She could imagine his rotten face, the skin falling off random places as he ran after her and, as she fell, tried to eat her. He became what she had almost become at the beginning if not for her husband, a rotten creature that stumbled across the world with absolutely no purpose but to eat. She wondered how bad he would look. Did they eat all of him? Was there anything left? Had they only left pieces behind? She would never know not even if she wanted to.

Rick had confirmed, from what she saw from the tree, that the people that had shown up that morning were a part of the ever growing group. A man in beach clothes, a fishing hat, and an old RV, his name was Dale. A woman with long blonde hair and a shitty, bratty, attitude, that walked with her head held high in the air like she was better then everyone, her name was Andrea. Another woman with very short hair, and only seemed to cry, she was the one that had lost her daughter, her name was Carol. The last one struck her as odd and was a type of man she had never met before. He was a redneck with a bad attitude, a man who spaced himself, a man with a crossbow, a motorcycle, and a strange leather vest, his name was Daryl and, from what she knew, his last name was Dixon.

She clutched the hand of her crying two year old as people continued to place rocks on the fake grave. It infuriated her to know that there was nothing there but dirt in the ground that she was supposed to pretend was her dad, the grandfather of her only child. She wouldn't do it. Something was fishy about her fathers death and she knew it had to do with Shane who had somehow come back with a dead mans gun like no one would notice.

"Blessed be god, father of our lord, Jesus Christ. Praise be to him for the gift of our brother Otis for his span of years, for his abundance of character. Otis who gave his life to save a child's now more than ever our most precious asset. We thank you god for the peace he enjoys in your embrace. He died as he lived….in grace." Hershel spoke in respect.

She looked down at her crying little boy and stroked his hair out of his face. First his father and now his grandfather. Who was next?

"Shane?" Hershel continued as he looked at the man wearing her fathers old clothes, "Will you speak for Otis?"

She slowly looked at the man in question to see him staring at her with this strange, almost crazy, look in his eyes.

"I'm not good at it." He said as he continued to stare at her. "I'm sorry."

"You were the last one with him." Patricia said as she held back tears.

"Mother." Charlotte almost hissed from beside her as the wind blew a small piece of her hair into her face.

"You shared his final moments," she continued, "please, I need to hear. I need to know his death had meaning."

Charlotte almost shivered at the look that passed through his eyes as he continued to stare at her and her son. She glared across the grave at him and held her son's hand almost to the breaking point and so, in order not break his hand, she picked him up and held him close as he cried into her neck.

He hesitated as he continued to stare at her, "We….we were about done. Almost out of ammo and we were down to pistols by then. I was limpin', it was bad. Ankle all swollen up. 'We gotta save the boy.' See that's what he said. He gave me his backpack and he shoved me ahead. 'Run' he said. Said 'I'd take the rear I'll cover you.' Then when I looked back…..if not for Otis I'd've never made it out alive and that goes for Carl to. It was Otis, he saved us both. If any death ever had meaning, it was his."

He limped over towards the empty grave and placed a rock on top of the pile before he looked at her again. "He told me to watch out for you and your boy."

Everyone looked at her as she tensed and held her near howling son closer to her before she gently set him on the ground. She narrowed her eyes and glared at him as she stepped closer to him and didn't stop until they were almost touching. "Tell me something, Shane," she almost hissed, "if he was covering you then how did you come back with a dead mans gun? I know you didn't go back just for a gun."

His eyes darkened and his nostrils flared as the two stared at each other, no one moved.

"Come on Shane," she whispered as a smile slowly began to creep onto her tear stained face, "tell me how he really died or do I have to do it for you?"

He glared at her.

"Mama?" Travis pulled at the bottom of her dress.

Charlotte turned away from him and looked towards her son who had walked up to her side. "What baby?"

He reached out his other hand towards her. "I got'd a l'dy bug."

She reached down to him and lifted him into her arms before she began to walk away from the crowd of silent people, "You got a lady bug?"

Travis nodded.

"You know what you've gotta do now?"

He shook his head as they got further away.

Charlotte smiled. "We've gotta watch it fly away."

He frowned and turned his head. "F'y aw'y?"

She nodded. "Oh yeah, gotta go up into the sky where everything else goes."

Travis chewed on his hand. "Like a bird?"

"Mmhmm, like a bird?"

"Like daddy?"

"Just like daddy, baby, and grandpa Otis."

"Grampy fly away?"

Charlotte stopped in the middle of the field and ran her fingers through her sons hair. "Yeah, baby, he's with daddy now."

He looked confused for a moment before he shook his head and laid it on his mother's shoulder. "I wuv you mommy."

"I love you too." Charlotte said before she started walking again.

* * *

She was somethin' strange ta him. He knew somethin' was off about that man Otis's death but she'd gone and laid Shane out flat. He'd heard from where he'd been standin', sh'd had a point. She was pretty, he'd have ta give her that, and that son of hers was pretty cute. He kinda felt a little sorry for her, losin' and all like that, almost like the way he lost his brother except Otis wadn't chained ta a roof and left there. He watched her walk away, he could hear her explaining to her son about Otis going away just like his dad. He couldn't say it didn't hurt a little if not at all awkward.

* * *

"Mama?" Travis asked from his spot in her lap where he was playing with some of the flowers and grass.

She sighed with her eyes closed and her head leaned against the tree, "Yes, dear?"

"Is daddy eve' gonna c'me bak?" He asked.

She froze for a moment and looked down at him before she shivered and ran her fingers through his short hair, "I told you darling, daddy's flown away."

"Why?" He asked.

She didn't know what to say. How could she tell her only son that his father was dead? "He just did, but I'm sure he's in a better place now."

He nodded before he laid his head on her shoulder, "I miss daddy."

She hugged him tighter to her, "I know baby, I know."

He looked up at her, "D' y'u thin' he miss us?"

She nodded and rested her head on his. "I'm sure he misses us as much as we miss him. Especially you, he loved you so much."

He picked at her clothes and nodded, "I wuv you mama."

"I love you too baby."

* * *

Having those people around was strange to her. They had moved into the cluster of trees not far from her and she felt as if she couldn't walk around without someone watching her and the lookout that they now had posted on the RV made her even more paranoid. Were they watching her? Could they see what she was saying? Were they asking questions? Were they being given answers? She didn't feel safe having her son be away from her anymore. Not with both Shane and the strange people wandering around. They acted like they owned the farm and apparently they intended to stay for as long as they could, she had Rick talking to others about it early when they had gotten to close to her.

They were looking for that little girl she had learned was called Sophia. They had lost her on the highway when a group of those creatures had stumbled past and two of them had chased her into the forest. Hershel was letting them stay for a little while so they could finish their search. To her it was just a waste of time; they weren't going to find her, a little girl lost a forest full of those things. Three days out there on her own with nothing but a stuffed doll to protect from hundreds of those creatures? No, if her husband couldn't survive out there then there was no way that a small twelve year old girl could. From what she could tell, Shane, Andrea, Rick, Herschel, Maggie, and Daryl were all standing in a circle surrounding a car as with a map on it.

She looked away from them as her son toddled up to her with another new bug in his small grubby hands.

* * *

"How long's this girl been missin'?" Herschel asked as Maggie walked up to the car with a map in her hand.

"This'll be day three." Rick said.

Maggie reached out and spread the map across the front of the car before covering the corners with stones, "County survey map shows terrain and elevations."

"This is perfect," Rick grumbled, he was still weak, "we can finally get this thing organized. We'll grid the whole area and start searching in teams."

Herschel shook his head. "Not you, you gave three units of blood yesterday, your barley on your feet. You'd pass out before you made it to the end of the field." He looked at Shane, "And your ankle, put anymore weight on it you'll be laid up for months."

"Guess it's just me," Daryl leaned across the car and began to map out a trail, "I'm gonna head back to the creak work my way from there." He looked at Rick who nodded.

"I could still be useful," Shane said, "drive up the interstate see if she wandered back."

Rick sighed. "Alright, tomorrow then, we'll start this right."

Shane looked at Rick. "We can't have our people walkin' around with just knives, gotta have that gun trainin' I was talkin' about a while back."

Rick nodded but Herschel shook his head. "I'd prefer you to not carry guns on my land. Haven't needed them before don't need them now."

Shane looked irritated.

Rick nodded. "This is your land." He took his gun off and placed it on the car hood, Shane slowly followed. "Figure out a grid and we'll find Sophia."

"I hate to be the one to ask this," Shame said, "but what happens if we find her and she's bit?"

"Do what has to be done."

"What about her mother?" Maggie asked.

Andrea shook her head. "The truth."

Maggie looked at her father with disbelief but he shook his head.

"If we can't have the guns till gun practice can I make the request of having one on look out, just to feel safe?" Shane asked.

Rick looked at Herschel. "Our people would feel safer."

Herschel nodded. "Only one."

Rick looked at Shane. "Gather all the guns, tell the people we can't have them until gun practice."

As Daryl went to walk past him, Herschel call out to him, "Take Charlotte with you, she knows the land better then anybody else."

Daryl squinted his eyes at him. "I do better on my own."

"Take her anyway," Herschel insisted, "she won't bother you unless you bother her, she'll help."

Daryl shrugged and walked away but not before looking at the woman who was playing with her son underneath the large willow tree.

* * *

"Why'd you ask me?" Charlotte asked as the two trekked through the quiet woods.

He just looked at her.

Charlotte scoffed and shook her head as she looked around. "Don't talk much do ya?"

"Herschel told me ta take ya wi' me, said ya'd help."

She shrugged her shoulders and pushed some tree limbs to find an open clearing and an abandoned home. She paused. "Herschel will say anything to get me away from that tree."

Daryl pushed through the trees and came to a stop beside her before he reached and pulled his crossbow over his shoulder.

She looked at him. "Think she might be in there?"

He looked over at her shrugged, "Only one way to find out?"

They slowly walked across the grass and towards the run down building that had once been somebody's home. Daryl raised his crossbow to his eyes, kicked in the door, and slowly crept inside while Charlotte followed silently behind. From what she could see there was nothing was knocked over ruined furniture, there was no one there. Still, she stood there in the doorway as Daryl started to search around. She frowned when he came back empty.

She looked at him with big eyes. "Nothing?"

He shook his head. "Found a cabinet with a blanket and pillow, somebody was hidin' in there," he raised his hand beside him, "couldn't a been but about this heigh."

She looked at his hand and nodded. "Guess we'll have to keep looking then."

Daryl passed on the way out the door and yelled, "Sophia?"

Charlotte quickly followed his example. "Sophia?" she looked around before she walked around the house, "Sophia? Sophia, where are you?"

She walked back around the front of the front house and went to yell again but stopped when she saw Daryl kneeling in front of a flower plant. She walked over to him and looked over his shoulder at the white flowers. "What are those?"

He looked over his shoulder at her.

She raised her eyebrow and shrugged. "You must know them since your staring at them so hard."

Daryl scoffed and looked back at the flowers. "There, uh, Cherokee Roses."

"I haven't seen one before. That's weird since I've been out here a lot."

"Funny how some things can pass right by our noses."

* * *

She sat beside his grave again, they had just gotten back, and was reading a book about a boy with magic and a scar on his forehead. Her son laid asleep beside her on the ground with his head in her lap and her hand was periodically running through his head. She didn't see Daryl walking towards her until his boots peaked out from underneath her book. She bent the side of the page she was on, closed the book, and looked up at him.

"Be careful," she said with a small smile, "Travis won't like it if you step on his ant castle."

Daryl looked confused.

Her smile grew as she pointed to his left right beside his foot.

He looked down and for sure there was a mound of dirt with an army of ants swarming around it, he looked at her.

She shrugged. "His dad would read him this book before bedtime about Ant Cities, ever since he's always liked to play with them."

"What happened ta him? His dad?" Daryl asked as he shuffled his feet and chewed on his lip.

Charlotte looked down at her boy before she looked at the grave. "When it all started, Andy and I were at him. The Hospitals had called us in but the amount of deaths that were happening Andy didn't wanna risk it. We packed as much stuff as we could before we decided to come here to be with Herschel and his family and mom and dad. We went through the woods hoping to get here faster and that no one would see us but we ran into a group of those things."

"Walkers," Daryl interrupted, she looked at him confused, "we call walkers."

Her eyebrows flurried before she nodded her head and continued, "We ran into a group of walkers. We tried to run away from them but my foot got stuck under the root of a tree. Andy tried to get me out but he had to kill the walkers first cause they were to close, one of them bit him on the arm. He got me out but the time we got here a fever had set in and we practically had to drag him into the house."

"Wha'd ya do?"

"The bite was only on the bottom of his arm so I thought that if I cut it off he'd be ok but the infection had already been in for to long and he died." She looked down at Travis and ran her fingers through his hair as she fought back the tears that were threatening to spill. "I sat there holding his hand and when he died it hurt so much. I didn't know what to say to him, my boy. How could I tell him in a way that he would understand that his dad was going to come home again?" She shook her head. "Herschel and daddy, they promised me they'd burry him so that I could stay with Travis, he had gone to sleep so he didn't know until that morning."

Daryl shifted his weight and lifted his hand to bite on his thumb. "I'm sorry."

Charlotte chuckled and leaned her head back against the tree. "There's nothing to be sorry for except for my own stupidity. If I hadn't gotten stuck he'd still be here or if he would've left me. Travis would be happier without me, he was a daddies boy anyway."

"That boy loves you."

Charlotte went to say something but stopped when she saw something moving in the distance across the field. She leaned away from the tree and squinted her eyes. "Do you see that?" She asked Daryl.

He turned around and squinted before he nodded. "Somethin's movin' out there."

She lightly placed her sons head on the ground before she stood up and walked to Daryl's side, he looked at her. She watched the figure walk away from camp until they suddenly stopped and turned around. "Is that Lori?"

Daryl nodded. "Yep."

Charlotte shook her head. "I don't know what she's doing but I don't think I wanna find out."

**-Hey, chapter 3's done. Only took me about 3 hours, but I did it. A little bit more Travis and his adorableness, an irritating Shane, a little bit of background on Charlotte's husband Andy, and Daryl-Charlotte bonding time. Let me tell ya, season 2 is not my favorite because a lot of stuff doesn't happen and it goes by so slow. Anywho, I shall bare through the pain until I get to season 3 and more stuff happens for Charlotte to get into. She's still a closed off person but she will eventually open up to more people in the group, don't know about this season, but she will. **


	4. Chapter 4-Chupacabra

**-Well, I have officially made it to chapter 4. So my idea with Daryl and Charlotte is that I wanna take the romance relationship slow so we don't just jump into it like a lot of stories do and just have them as friends for awhile. So I'm thinking that their romance thing probably won't start until season 3 I'm not sure yet.**

**-When I posted that last chapter, let me tell ya, everything blew up on my phone yesterday. Between favorites and followers and I got one review, wish I got more, but I'm not gonna beg or hold out just cause I didn't get a lot. **

**-Sadly, I don't own anything but Charlotte, Travis, Andy, and their story.**

**-Anyway, own with the story.**

* * *

"_I don't have to see the scars to know what you've been through."_

**Chapter 4) Chupacabra**

Her eyes squinted at the sun light that beamed through the windows of her bedroom. She groaned and wiped her eyes before she rolled over onto her back and laid herself flat with her right arm hanging off the bed. She reached over and grabbed the clock from the bedside table, it was almost eleven in the morning. She dropped the clock onto the ground and rolled back over to see that Travis wasn't beside her. She pushed the covers back with her feet, climbed out of the bed, and stretched before she walked over to the window. The was full of activity and, from what she could see, it was laundry day for them. She squinted her eyes, most of the camp was missing. Andrea, T-Dog, Shane, Rick, Daryl, none of the were there. She quickly got ready before she walked down and into the kitchen.

She walked over to the kitchen and grabbed an apple. "Morning momma."

Patricia looked at from where she had been washing the dishing in the sink. "Monin' Charlotte."

She leaned against the table as she bit into the apple. "You know where Travis is?"

"Beth took his out earlier to feed the chickens with her."

"No Jimmy."

Patricia shook her head. "No, he went with the search parties to look Carol's daughter Sophia."

Charlotte almost chocked and looked at her mother in shock. "You're joking right? Herschel'd never let him go unless he was with me or him, Jimmy knows that. Boy, is that kid trying to get himself killed or something?"

Patricia shrugged. "I don't know but Herschel's not to happy about and, besides, one of Rick's men took a horse out of the stables."

"Which one?"

"Nellie."

Charlotte rolled her eyes and almost laughed. "Nellie, as in Nervous Nellie?"

Patricia nodded.

She scrunched up her shoulders and took a bite out of her apple. "Well, however took her's gonna be coming back without a horse if they ain't careful."

"I don't what his name was but he had a crossbow."

Charlotte froze before she pushed away from the table. "Crossbow?" She ran her hand through her hair and sighed before she placed the half finished apple on the table, kissed her mom on the cheek, and left the kitchen.

She walked out onto the porch but stopped at the sight of Glenn leaning against the house with a guitar. She looked at him. "You know how to play that thing?"

He shook his head and held it up. "No, do you?"

She nodded. "Yeah, dad taught me."

She walked down the steps and away from him towards the cluster of trees that now become the base camp or Rick's little survival group. The women, of course, she had seen them from the window, were doing the laundry, Lori and Carol. She could see Beth and Travis over by the chickens, Dale was sitting on the RV with his shot gun, and everyone else was gone. She walked past the women, who stared at her, and went up to the RV.

She put her hand over her eyes and called up, "Hey Dale?"

He looked down at her and smiled. "You must be Charlotte?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"What can I do for you?"

"Do you know which way Daryl went?"

He looked at her confused before he pointed out towards the trees. "Went towards the river, said he was gonna start there. Why?"

"He, uh, took a horse that he wasn't supposed, wanna make sure he's ok."

"What's wrong with the horse?"

Charlotte shook her head. "Nothing serious she just gets nervous easily is all."

Dale nodded.

Charlotte went to walk away but turned around before she got too far. "Hey," she called to him again, "if anybody asks, can you tell them where I went so they don't worry?"

He nodded again. "Yeah, come back safe."

"I will."

* * *

She hadn't been searching for long, maybe an hour or two, almost everyone who had been searching should've been back by now. She had found the horse tracks easily in the ground and had followed them up the river, the little girl had gone no where the highway.

She looked down at the slightly old hoof prints and frowned, the horse had veered off to the right away from the creek. She went to follow them but stopped at the sound of something in the creek. She leaned over the edge and looked around, from where she was, she couldn't see anything but water and sticks. She slung her gun up above her head and over her shoulders before she grabbed a tree and slowly began to lower herself down. The further down she went the more anxious she got, from what she could tell by the sound it was either a walker or a person. She finally lowered herself down to where she could look over the roots and that's when she saw him.

He was lying against the river side muttering to himself with an arrow embedded in his side. The sleeves of his sheet had been cut off and wrapped around the arrow wound, he must've fallen and landed on it.

* * *

Rick walked around the side of the shed where Herschel was working on the generator.

"One of my horses is missin'," Herschel said as he filled up the generator with oil. "Did one of your people take it?"

Rick said uncertainly. "I was given the impression you knew about that."

"I did not."

He shook his head. "I'll have a word with Daryl."

Herschel nodded. "Charlotte left over an hour ago to go look for him, she'll give him enough words to last him a life time."

"What do you mean?"

"The horse was Nervous Nellie, gets frightened at everything, she's Charlotte's horse." Herschel explained.

Rick nodded and smirked. "I'm sure he'll get an ear full then."

* * *

"Daryl Dixon I swear to whatever is up there in that sky that, when I get down there, I'm going to kill you."

Her foot had once again gotten stuck under a tree root when she accidently went down faster then she had wanted to and slid. She twisted her leg from left to right and yanked but it wouldn't come out. She sighed and leaned back into the hill, "Stupid."

"Merle."

She lifted herself up and looked down at the semiconscious Daryl Dixon to see that he was smiling. "Daryl?"

"A shitty day bro."

Her eyebrows scrunch, was he really talking to himself right now? She leaned back again and sighed before she pulled her knife out of her right boot and began to cut away at the tree root.

"Screw ya."

She rolled her eyes. Here they were stuck in a river and he was off in la la land, just great, and he'd lost her horse.

"A girl…..they lost their little girl."

She was almost through just a little bit more.

"Shut up."

She looked down at him. "I didn't say anything."

"Try'd like hell to find you bro."

She was so close, just a little and she'd be free, it was like Andy all over again.

"You let out, all you had to do was wait, and we went back for ya. Rick and I, we did right by ya."

"Oh my god," Charlotte angrily sighed, "I swear when I get outta this I'm gonna kill him."

"I ain't nobody's bitch."

"Your about to be mine if you don't wake up." Charlotte growled as she pulled her leg out from under the tree out and slid the rest of the way down the hill. She kneeled down beside Daryl and began to shake him by his shoulders. "Daryl? Daryl wake up, now's not nap time, wake up."

His head bounced around for a minute before his eyes slowly landed on her. She was blurry to him for minute before his vision slightly cleared, "Charlotte?"

Her blurry figure smiled at him. "Hey, dummy, your gonna be ok. Gotta figure out how to get you back up this hill."

"Charlotte?"

She nodded. "Yeah, didn't think I'd leave you out here did you? After you took my horse I ought to leave you here for walker bate."

He shook his head. "Sophia."

She looked at him confused. "What about her?"

"Found her doll."

She looked like she was going to say something but stopped when the sound of rustling met their ears. She looked around for a minute then at him. "Don't move, alright? Stay here." She stood up from beside him, pulled her gun over her head, and lifted it to her eyes. "I know your there, come on out."

The rustling of the bushes grew louder before they stumbled their out of them and towards her. She quickly took out the dark skinned one that had stumbled out first and went to shot the second when her gun jammed, she didn't see the one that had come out near her side.

Daryl quickly ripped the arrow out of his side, grabbed his crossbow, and shot the walker in the head as Charlotte took out her knife and stabbed the last one. Daryl fell to the ground and Charlotte looked over at him. She shoved her knife back into her boot and ran over to where he was sitting.

"Why'd you do that?" She asked as she pulled up his shirt to check his side, "Could've hurt yourself even worse pulling an arrow out of your side like that, stupid, I could've done it."

He frowned at her and practically growled. "Sorry for tryin' ta help."

She sighed and looked up at him. "Not that I'm not grateful or anything, because I am, it's just," she rubbed her face and looked away from him, "I should've seen it ya know? If my gun wouldn't have jammed, I didn't even see him."

"Hey," he said making her look at him again, "it happens."

She stared at him for a minute before she nodded her head, dropped the side of his shirt, and looked around. "So, how're we going to get out of here?"

He pointed towards the top of the cliff. "Climb."

She looked at him shocked. "You're joking right?" He shook his head. "You can't seriously mean for us to climb that with your side the way it is. I nearly crushed my ankle coming down that stupid thing."

He was almost panting. "Come on, worth a shot."

She rolled her eyes.

* * *

Once they had gotten him bandaged, she had folded up his shirt and tied it to his side with his sleeves, and he had eaten a squirrel, gross, taken the ears off the walkers, why she didn't know, and had grabbed Sophia's doll, they slowly began the long trek up the hillside. She was in front leading the way while he dragged himself slowly behind her.

"You do know that you have blood all over your face now?" She asked as she grabbed another tree root and looked back at him.

He stopped and looked up at her. "Yeah, what about it?"

"Well," she said as she started to move again, "when we get back to camp they might think you're a walker, try to kill us."

"So," he said, "wouldn't be the first time."

She looked at him confused. "Wouldn't be the first time? You mean they've tried to kill you before?"

"More like stuck a gun ta my head twice and didn't pull the trigger."

"Who did that?"

"Rick."

"Really."

He huffed.

"Is he the one that left your brother behind?"

Daryl paused. "Who told ya 'bout that?"

She shrugged and leaned her head to the left. "No one really told me, I pieced it together. When Glenn and T-Dog got to the farm, I asked them where they got the medicine from and they said that a guy named Merle Dixon used to get the clap on occasion and that you had the medicine for him. I asked where he was but they said he was gone. You were talking while you were unconscious, you said you went back for him so I assume that he got left behind,"

He looked at her. "You figur'd that out just by listen' ta people?"

She nodded. "Yep, was I right?"

He shook his head. "Got tha basics."

"Would you tell me about it, if I asked?"

"Maybe."

She let the conversation drop after that and lightly shoved herself up to get them moving again. From what she could tell, they were almost halfway there. She looked up when the birds cawed in the sky and frowned, she really wished she was a bird.

"I was doin' better when you were missin'."

She looked at Daryl, he was talking to himself again. She rolled her eyes, grabbed the limb beside her, and pulled.

"Yeah, since when?"

She tuned out the rest of the conversation as she dragged herself up the hill and over the side. She leaned with her hands on her hips and took a breath of air, she could hear Daryl still talking to himself. She turned around kneeled on the ground, and looked over at him, he was almost there. She reached her hand down to him and waited until he could reach it.

"Come on Daryl," she said as he reached out towards her, "grab my hand."

His hand slammed into hers and together they pulled him over the top of the stupid hill. He stood there for a moment, breathing heavily, and was looking around wildly before he yelled, "Yeah, you better run." He continued to look for a minute before his eyes landed on Charlotte. She, like him, was breathing heavily with mud and blood covering her from head to toe from where she had scrapped herself on the hill. Her short hair was wild, she had forgotten her headband at the house, and was leaning on her right side. She was staring at him with an expression he could place. "What?" He asked.

She shrugged. "Nothin'," she grabbed his arm and pulled it over her shoulders, "come one, let's get back to the farm."

* * *

She could see the edge of the farm as they stumbled through the trees and out into the open field. She gave a heavy sigh, she was practically carrying Daryl now with the way he was leaning on her. She could see Andrea on the top of the RV, she must've been the look out. Not long after she looked at Andrea she saw the figures of four men running towards her and Daryl. She pulled Daryl to a stop and frowned as the four men halted in front of them and Rick aimed his pistol at Daryl.

"Is that Daryl and Charlotte?" Glenn asked.

Daryl almost growled. "That's the third time you've pointed that thing at my head. You gonna pull the trigger or what?"

The four men let out of breath of release, Charlotte sighed before a gun shot went off, and she went down.

* * *

"NO! NO!"

He could hear Rick screaming behind him, he didn't know what happened. One minute she'd been standin' right there beside him and the next she was on the ground. He quickly flopped down beside her and turned her head towards him, the bullet had only grazed her. He sighed a little in relief before he fell down beside her.

"Daryl, man, Daryl come on wake up."

"Oh my god, is she dead?"

"You grazed her?"

"Why's he wearing ear's for a necklace?"

"Guys, isn't this Sophia's."

"What's with all the blood?"

"What happened?"

"Andrea shot her."

"Take her upstairs, last room on the left, him to."

"What about Travis?"

"Keep him outside."

* * *

She could hear people talking all around her. One was on her left side very close to her ear and another was on the right. She groaned as her head pounded, she remembered being shot then nothing. Something was resting on her stomach pushing it down almost painfully. The voices stopped for a minute as she slowly opened her eyes and stared up at the blurry ceiling. She felt someone move beside her and looked at the person to her left.

The first thing she saw were his blue eyes and that, even though he was cleaner then he had been, he still needed a shower very badly. Dirt covered him from top to bottom as he laid on her sons side of the bed with Herschel stitching his side that had been impaled by the arrow. He was holding a rag to the spot on her head where she had been shot, the blood wasn't as bad as she had thought it would be. She went to roll on her side but stopped when something moved on her stomach. She looked down to see a mound of black hair resting on her tummy and an arm was wrapped around her waist.

"He wouldn't leave." She heard Rick say from her right side.

She sighed at the sight of her boy and lifted her hand to run her fingers through his hair. "Can't say I'm not surprised."

"What do you mean?"

She looked at Rick. "He's always been afraid that I'll leave, now more then ever since my dad's gone."

Rick nodded.

She looked over at Daryl and frowned. "Where's my horse?"

He rolled his eyes. "You mean the horse that almost killed me? If it's smart it left the country."

She huffed. "If you would've asked I could've told you about her. Her name's Nellie, as in Nervous Nellie."

"What's so special about that damn horse anyway?"

She frowned and looked away from him. "Andy gave her to me as a birthday present three years ago."

The room went silent for a moment as she laid there petting her only child's head. Rick, Shane, and Herschel left not long after that leaving the other three people in the room alone.

She hadn't noticed the scars until he had rolled over to fully face her, they were everywhere, and his entire chest was littered with them. She reached out to touch one but stopped when he flinched away and frowned at her.

"I don't have to see the scars to know what you've been through." She said to him as he looked away from her and at the sleeping child on top of her. "I worked at a hospital, Daryl, both myself and my husband. I've seen all sorts of different cases come into my wing but the worst are always the children." He looked at her. "The children with the broken ribs, or the broken arms, legs, fingers, heads, or the ones that had to sit there in the waiting and wait until their mom got out of surgery because their dad almost killed her again."

"What's yer point?"

She rolled her eyes. "My point is that scars don't matter to me. There something that everyone, one way or anything, has to deal with whether there physical or mental or both."

He looked like a little boy to her with the way that he curled into himself and pulled the sheets up to his chin with his sad blue eyes. "You don't care?"

She shook her head and gave him a tiny smile. "No. If I cared would I be here right now?"

He stared at her before he shook his head, buried into the covers, and looked at her little boy. "Think he's gonna wake up anytime soon?"

She smiled down at Travis as her eyelids began to droop. "No, he's a heavy sleeper, should be out for hours."

He nodded at her. "Should get some sleep, look tired."

"Well, falling down that hill, saving your butt, and getting shot in the head can make a person tired."

He scoffed. "Go to sleep."

* * *

Dale walked out of the house and sat beside Andrea who was sitting on the front steps.

"How's she doin'?" She asked him.

He shook his head. "She'll be fine. What about you?"

She shrugged. "I shot Charlotte."

"Well," he sighed, "Herschel's not to happy about it, neither is her mother, or Maggie and Beth."

"I thought she was a walker."

"We know, we know, don't be too hard on yourself."

"She's gonna kill me when she gets up isn't she?" She asked.

He nodded. "Probably."

* * *

"Does anyone know how to play the guitar?" Glenn's question floated throughout the horribly quiet dinning room. "Dale found a cool one." He laughed. "Somebodies gotta know how to play."

"Otis did." Patricia said.

"Yes, he was very good to." Herschel said.

"Andy could," Maggie said to her dad, "Charlotte's husband, he could."

"Charlotte can, she tried to teach me but that didn't go very well." Jimmy pipped in.

Herschel nodded. "Maybe she'll play it for us when she's better."

"Someone needs to take up dinner to them." Rick said after a moment of silence.

Carol nodded. "I will."

* * *

He had been laying there for hours watching her sleep. Her short reddish brown hair all tangled with little leaves and sticks and her face covered in dirt. Her son had slid off of her at some point and moved to the open spot between Charlotte and him, it was weird having the little boy sleep facing him. He had just been about to doze off when Carol pushed into the bedroom with a tray full of food. He looked over his shoulder at her and frowned before he pulled the blanket further up his body to hide the scars.

"I brought you dinner." She said.

He grunted.

"How're you feeling?"

"'bout as good as I look." He grumbled.

Charlotte groaned from her spot on the bed beside him and rolled over so she was facing him, his mouth twitched a little bit.

Carol leaned over and kissed the side of his head.

"Watch it," he said as she pulled away and he pointed at his head, "I got stitches."

"You need to know something." She said and Daryl looked at her. "You did more for my daughter today then her own daddy ever did in his whole life."

He nodded towards Charlotte. "Wasn't just me. Wouldn't a done anythin' Rick or Shane wouldn't a done."

"I know." She smiled. "That makes you every bit as good as them, every bit." She walked out into the hallway and closed the door behind her.

He laid there for a moment as Travis moved a little closer to him and buried his head into his arm. Daryl looked at the kid and smirked.

Charlotte giggled. "Somebody likes you."

"Shut up."

* * *

**-Hey, would you look at that, chapter 4's done. Anyway, when Daryl fell down the hill he was bleeding on the other side of his head so I decided to give him stitches so I could keep Carol. **


End file.
